Peshawar, Sep 22 (PTI) An explosion caused by an improvised explosive device, targeting a convoy of foreign diplomats, killed a policeman and injured three others in Pakistan’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday.
The blast triggered through a remote hit the convoy that was travelling to the scenic mountainous Malam Jabba in Swat district from Islamabad. A senior police officer said that all the diplomats were safe.
The convoy included diplomats from Russia, Vietnam, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Portugal.
“All the diplomats are completely safe. The improvised explosive device targeted the convoy of police that was on security duty,” the police official said.
The three injured policemen are in a critical condition, hospital authorities said.
The Swat district remained a hotbed of Taliban militancy during the period of insurgency in 2009.
The militants were flushed out after a massive military operation in the district and a majority of the militants fled to the neighbouring Afghanistan.
An exodus of local people had taken place to other parts of the country during the insurgency, however, after a five-month operation, the people returned to their native areas in Swat district.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the blast and said, “We salute our brave police force for their matchless sacrifices in the war against terror. Their sacrifices would not go waste.” PTI AYZ GSP GSP
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